Seasonal Returns Provide Great Product-Sourcing Opportunities

Did you know that around 10% of all holiday purchases are returned to retailers in the months following Christmas? Whether buyers’ remorse, relaxed return policies or gift-recipient repugnance, retailers are getting back close to $64 billion in merchandise sold during the holidays; much of which can’t go back on the shelves. All of these returns, however, present an excellent opportunity for resellers to stock up on merchandise across a variety of categories as they move through the liquidation process.

B-Stock Solutions’ Eric Moriarty recently spoke with eCommerce Bytes about post-holiday sourcing, including what resellers should expect in terms of product availability, and margins. Here are some takeaways to consider:

• The most active time period for post-holiday returns is mid-January through March. This span is due to a few factors including: internal policies set by the retailer, the retailer’s warehousing and logistics bandwidth and a delay in returning the item by the consumer.

• Profitability for resellers of returned merchandise will be affected by a number of variables including the reseller’s sales channel, or however they opt to make those items available for purchase. Any value the reseller adds, like refurbishing, can have an impact on profit margins, as does overhead and item condition.

• Though the margins vary, some sellers see triple digits on a per-unit basis. If you are careful and buy well, there is substantial profit to be made.